RV Maintenance Technician

dougrainer wrote:

darsben wrote:
I would never use an inspector for any RV I bought.
All the contracts state that if they miss something your only remedy is your money back.
So what benefit.

They FIND the defects BEFORE you purchase. That gives you a heads up and negotiating power. Doug

Or they may miss a big item and you are stuck with no recourse against the person who did the work.

I've always had good luck with finding the manuals for whatever I was working on online and reading them over before starting a repair job. The YouTube videos are extremely educational and informative. The motorhomes I've bought were orphans from the start and I've never run into a problem I couldn't handle using the manuals for the individual components and asking for help here on the forums. I met a lot of nice folks in the same boat I was in. There's just about no problem you're run into that has been fixed by someone else already.

I took the online inspector course from NRVIA. It's not a repair course, but is a "how things work" course, which was exactly what I wanted before spending 6 months on the road. I do most of the work on the bus, but truth be told, I hit YouTube (RV Geeks, RV Repair, there are hundreds of them) before I do something to get tips and hints.

In order to get listed in the NRVIA database and get referrals from NRVIA, you have to complete an inspection for an NRVIA official. I can't remember the cost, but it was more that $1000, and you had to go somewhere and put yourself up to get it. They charge $1500 for an inspection and you get half. First of all, no one will pay that much for an inspection. In fact, they won't even pay $750. Secondly, I can get referrals from anywhere. I do warranty inspections for a company and I get $150 for 3 hours of work.

I did start an inspection business and had exactly 1 pre-buy inspection in 2 years. The rest of my business was people who already bought a rig and wanted someone to show them how to operate the systems. You don't need an NRVIA emblem to do that.

So if people are buying an RV without an inspection, I guess it's ok that an NRVIA inspector doesn't need to worry about missing something.

darsben wrote:
I would never use an inspector for any RV I bought.
All the contracts state that if they miss something your only remedy is your money back.
So what benefit.

They FIND the defects BEFORE you purchase. That gives you a heads up and negotiating power. Doug

I would never use an inspector for any RV I bought.
All the contracts state that if they miss something your only remedy is your money back.
So what benefit.

This program (not in any way affiliated with RVIA), is a "training" Program for people that want to make money doing RV inspections for potential buyers. They do NOT teach you how to fix or do anything other that go thru an RV and find problems with the RV. Then give a detailed list of what they found. Sort of like a HOME Inspection for the RV. But they do both Chassis and Coach. There is a BIG difference between an RV MAINTENANCE Tech, and an RV SERVICE TECH. You CANNOT learn what a QUALIFIED RV Service Tech does and knows in 5 days, not even 30 days. Doug

Just going to be honest here.... There are several places offering courses for RV repair. IMHO it is best to take a bit longer than a 5 day cert to learn about RV's. One great way is through experience of long term ownership. Another is asking a ton of questions of owners to learn of different models. Another is simply to do all the repairs yourself (if possible). The cert badge is ok, but there is so much more. You are dealing with auto mechanics, robotics, 12V systems, 12V appliances, 12V charging systems, and tons of automation. That would be a ton to cover in 5 days.

thefivey coarse isfora inspection cert.Its up to the indivisual if you want to pay the 1,644.00. and utilize it